Smartphone apps: The Cape's art community on tap

Local groups join together to produce apps that gives artists better exposure.

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By ROBERT GOLD

capecodtimes.com

By ROBERT GOLD

Posted Sep. 25, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By ROBERT GOLD
Posted Sep. 25, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

A collection of economic development and creative professionals are pitching smartphone apps to the artist community.

The free apps for smartphones will be unveiled for a trial run this winter, said Clare O'Connor, director of economic initiatives at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. It should be fully up and running by next April.

The project will be a flexible online guide and map that lets users find artists and artisans across the Cape and Islands.

"They are specifically to increase the markets for the artists," O'Connor said.

Plans calls for one app for the Cape, one for Martha's Vineyard and one for Nantucket.

A $36,960 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council made the smartphone art guide possible, she said, funding half of the project. Artists will pay between $100 to $150 to sign up for the project the first year, with a smaller annual fee after that.

"We haven't set that fee yet because we are hoping to get some sponsorships," she said.

All of the fees collected will go into the project, including the technical development and public relations.

The Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard chambers of commerce, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and Coastal Community Capital are partners in the project.

A website will be created and constantly updated, along with the apps, O'Connor said.

The digital presence will replace the book form of the Arts and Artisans Trail Guide, originally put out in 2005 by a consortium of area groups. The book features about 90 different art establishments or shops, representing about 300 artists, O'Connor said. The book was updated in 2009.

"They almost become obsolete the day they are printed," Kevin Howard, executive director of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, said about the books.

"I think we can reach a whole bunch of artists that are in different positions," he said of the new venture

The organizers will hold informational sessions into October around the Cape and Islands, looking to recruit artists and artisans to sign up for the apps. More information on the sessions can be found by visiting www.ecapechamber.com, then clicking on events calendar.

Artists will be able to constantly change information such its shop's hours, workshops, products and location.

Kimberly Medeiros, owner of The Barn Pottery in Pocasset, said she plans to sign up for the Cape app. She was one of the artists interviewed in a focus group by the app's organizers.

"I think anything to help people get into these off-the-beaten-path studios and galleries, it's a good thing. I think it's an easier, accessible way for people to find us."

When the arts and artisans guide came out in 2005, it focused solely on artists with established retail locations, O'Connor said. The new apps should allow people with a range of backgrounds to join up. All sites will be visited before being accepted for the system, she said.

"I think we can reach a whole bunch of artists that are in different positions," she said.